Vanka story anton chekhov biography

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The story opens on Christmas Eve with Vanka, a poor orphan of the age of nine, sitting down to write a letter to his grandfather; this man works as a night watchman for the Zhivarev family estate and resides in an unidentified village in Russia. Vanka has been transferred to new masters in Moscow to live with the family of Alyakhin the shoemaker. This lifestyle oppresses the little orphan, who grows frustrated with the situation and tries to contact his grandfather to ask for help.

As he writes the letter, Vanka recalls his jesting, lively grandfather and his life at the village before he was apprenticed to this new home. The young boy recollects the two dogs, Kashtanka and Eel, who follow his grandfather around the estate and sometimes partake of the grandfather's snuff. As he writes, Vanka also records some of the harsh treatment that he has received at the hands of Alyakhin, Alyakhin's wife, an